Body mass index and peer victimization: A transactional model

Past research has shown concurrent associations between adolescent's body mass index (BMI) and classroom bullying victimization experiences. The goal of this three‐wave longitudinal study is to examine a transactional model of associations between BMI and bullying victimization among adolescents in India. We investigate concurrent unidirectional and bidirectional relations between BMI and victimization. In a sample of 1238 students from nine schools (Grades 7–9; M‐age_T1 = 13.15, SD = 1.16) in Indore, India, we used self‐ and peer‐reports to measure bullying victimization in the classroom, and objective measurement of students' height and weight to collect data on adolescents' BMI, across three waves in one school year. Structural equational modeling was used to test transactional relations between BMI and bullying victimization. For self‐reported victimization, there was no concurrent or over time association between BMI and victimization for boys or girls in the present study. For peer‐reported victimization, we observed concurrent associations between BMI and victimization for boys and girls and a prospective relation where higher BMI corresponded to less victimization over time for boys. The study yielded mainly concurrent relations between BMI and victimization among adolescents in India. Results from western countries may not generalize to India.

Video-feedback intervention increases sensitive parenting in ethnic minority mothers: a randomized control trial

Using a randomized control trial design we tested the effectiveness of a culturally sensitive adaptation of the Video-feedback Intervention to promote Positive Parenting and Sensitive Discipline (VIPP-SD) in a sample of 76 Turkish minority families in the Netherlands. The VIPP-SD was adapted based on a pilot with feedback of the target mothers, resulting in the VIPP-TM (VIPP-Turkish Minorities). The sample included families with 20-47-month-old children with high levels of externalizing problems. Maternal sensitivity, nonintrusiveness, and discipline strategies were observed during pretest and posttest home visits. The VIPP-TM was effective in increasing maternal sensitivity and nonintrusiveness, but not in enhancing discipline strategies. Applying newly learned sensitivity skills in discipline situations may take more time, especially in a cultural context that favors more authoritarian strategies. We conclude that the VIPP-SD program and its video-feedback approach can be successfully applied in immigrant families with a non-Western cultural background, with demonstrated effects on parenting sensitivity and nonintrusiveness.

Predicting ethnic minority children's vocabulary from socioeconomic status, maternal language and home reading input: different pathways for host and ethnic language

When bilingual children enter formal reading education, host language proficiency becomes increasingly important. This study investigated the relation between socioeconomic status (SES), maternal language use, reading input, and vocabulary in a sample of 111 six-year-old children of first- and second-generation Turkish immigrant parents in the Netherlands. Mothers reported on their language use with the child, frequency of reading by both parents, and availability of children's books in the ethnic and the host language. Children's Dutch and Turkish vocabulary were tested during a home visit. SES was related to maternal language use and to host language reading input. Reading input mediated the relation between SES and host language vocabulary and between maternal language use and host language vocabulary, whereas only maternal language use was related to ethnic language vocabulary. During transition to formal reading education, one should be aware that children from low-SES families receive less host language reading input.

Socioeconomic status and parenting in ethnic minority families: testing a minority family stress model

According to the family stress model (Conger & Donnellan, 2007), low socioeconomic status (SES) predicts less-than-optimal parenting through family stress. Minority families generally come from lower SES backgrounds than majority families, and may experience additional stressors associated with their minority status, such as acculturation stress. The primary goal of this study was to test a minority family stress model with a general family stress pathway, as well as a pathway specific to ethnic minority families. The sample consisted of 107 Turkish-Dutch mothers and their 5- to 6-year-old children, and positive parenting was observed during a 7-min problem-solving task. In addition, mothers reported their daily hassles, psychological distress, and acculturation stress. The relation between SES and positive parenting was partially mediated by both general maternal psychological stress and maternal acculturation stress. Our study contributes to the argument that stressors specific to minority status should be considered in addition to more general demographic and family stressors in understanding parenting behavior in ethnic minority families.

Traveling with cognitive tests: testing the validity of a KABC-II adaptation in India

The authors evaluated the adequacy of an extensive adaptation of the American Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, second edition (KABC-II), for 6- to 10-year-old Kannada-speaking children of low socioeconomic status in Bangalore, South India. The adapted KABC-II was administered to 598 children. Subtests showed high reliabilities, the Cattell-Horn-Carroll model underlying the original KABC-II was largely replicated, and external relations with demographic characteristics and an achievement measure were consistent with expectations. The subtests showed relatively high loadings on the general cognitive factor, presumably because of the high task novelty and, hence, cognitive complexity of the tests for the children. The findings support the suitability and validity of the KABC-II adaptation. The authors emphasize that test adaptations can only be adequate if they meet both judgmental (qualitative) and statistical (quantitative) adaptation criteria.